Method of decorating walls and ceilings



(Speeimen'sJ METHOD OF DEGORATING WALLS AND GEILINGS. N0. 333,459. x v PatentedDec. 29, 1885.

WITNESSES:

NITE STATES FFICE.

PATENT METHOD OF DECORATING WALLS AND CEILINGS.

LSPE'O'IPICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 833,459.6ated December 29, 1885. Application filed May 18, 1883. Serial N 0. 95,412. (Specimens-l To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, MURRAY GIBsoN, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city and county ofPhiladelphia, and State ofPennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Method of Decorating Walls and Ceilings, of

which the following is a specification.-

My method of decorating is applicable to the ornamentation not only of the interiors, but of the exteriors of dwelling-houses and other buildings. and its object is the production upon a wall, ceiling, or kindred surface to be decorated of an ornamental irregularlyfaced raised surface-coating in the nature of an applied surface in low relief, which surfacecoating is produced by the application to the wall or surface to be coated of unmolded-that is to say, irregularly-faced masses of plastic material-in such manner as to produce ornamental figures, patterns, or designs, eitherin the raised portions of the plastic mass or else in the flat or lower portions or depressions which happen in the design to be intermediate between the raised portions or surfaces.

The invention is applicable to any interior or exterior surface, whatever be its contour, be itflat or curved, or whatever he the substance of which it is composed. In other words, my invention is applicable to walls or ceilings formed either of stone, brick, c011- crete, wood, or other substance. whether uncoated or faced with plaster or kindred substance, or covered with canvas or other textile or fibrous material.

In the practice of my invention various plastics can be employed. j I however prefer certain compounds which I have invented, and which constitute the subject-matter of United States Letters Patent Nos. 290,226,

290,227, and 290,228, granted to me December 18, 1883. These compounds vary forinterior or exterior work.

The best method by which my present invention can be put into practice is by the-employment of a stencil-pattern correspondent to the ornamental design desired to be produced. The stencil is applied to the wall, ceiling, or other surface which it is desired to ornament, and the unmolded plastic mass is applied to the wall through the openings in the stencil with a trowel or other fit implement, or, if desired, by hand. The plastic mass so applied through the stencil adheres to the surface of the wall, and is intentionally made and left extremely uneven, rough, and irregular upon its face, so that when the sten oil is removed the surface to which it had been applied is ornamented with a pattern of irregularly-surfaced plastic in low relief. The irregularly-surfaced plastic ornamentation, so as above applied having been allowed to harden upon the wall, may be subsequently colored with paints. oils, or any suitable pigment, or is gilded, silver-ed, or bronzed, according to the taste of the decorator. The resultant effect is both novel and beautiful, being that of a decorated surface covered with a mass of adherent irregular hardened plastic material. The design may of course be either geometric, grotesque, or fanciful. The coloring may, if desired, be uniform throughout, and obtained either by coloring the plastic itself before application, or else by the subsequent application of coloring to the plastic on the wall.

The stencil. so far as I know, is the most convenient means of carrying my invention into effect; but, if desired, the surface may be ornamented by the application of the plastic by hand, trowel, or otherwise without resort thereto.

I am aware that stencils have been employed for the ornamentation of walls with pigments; but so far as my knowledge extends I am the first to employ a stencil for the application to a flat or practically flat surface of ornamental irregularly-surlaced masses of plastic material as opposed to the application either of pigments or of smooth-surfaced plaster or stucco. It is of course competent for me to coat the surface or surfaces which are intermediate between the raised portions of the design with the plastic mass, so that in stead of allowing intermediateportions of the surface of the wall or ceiling itself to be exposed such intermediate portions shall be covered with the plastic mass, not of course to the depth of the raised portions, but to an extent sufficient to exclude from view all portions of the wall or ceiling surface itself.

In the accompanying drawings I have represented, in Fi ure l. in plan view and IOO 2 in sectional elevation, a portion of a surface ornamented by the practice of my invention.

In these fignres,A represents the surface to which the ornamentation is applied, and B represents the rough-surfaced plastic ornamentation itself.

I have spoken of producing a pattern in low relief. It is proper for me to add that the pattern or ornamental design produced can be'either in high or demi relief, although I think the best results are when the relief is low. The surface produced may, between the raised figures, be level or smooth.

So far as my method, broadly considered, goes, I desire to emphasize what I have herein previously said, that, to the best of my knowledge, I am the first to employ a stencil 'for the application to a flat or practically flat! surface of ornamental masses of irregularly-3 surfaced plastic material, as opposed tothe application of pigments or of smooth-faced plastics.

In the practice of interior decoration I find it often advisable to decorate by my method a canvas or other fabric and then apply the latter, either with or without a stretching-frame,

to the wall or ceiling, rather than to decorate the wall or ceiling direct.

Having thus described my invention, I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. The method of ornamenting.walls, ceilings, or other surfaces which consists in the application to said surfaces of an ornamental pattern or design composed of an irregularlysurfaced massof plastic material, substantially as set forth. I

2. The method of ornamenting walls, ceilings, or other surfaces which consists in the 'ap'p'licationthrough a. stencil. to said surfaces of an ornamental pattern or design composed of an irregularly-surfaced mass of plastic material, substantially as set forth.

3. The method of ornamenting walls, ceilings, or other surfaces which consists,;first, in the application to said surfaces of an ornamental pattern or design composed of an irregularly-surfaced mass of plastic material,

and, second, in coloring the plastic mass, substantially as set forth.

4. The method of ornamenting walls, ceilings, or other surfaces which consists, first, in the application through a stencil to said surfaces of an ornamental pattern or design composed of an irregularly-surfaced mass of.plastic'material, and, second, in coloringtheplastic mass, substantially as set forth.

5. A wall, ceiling, or other surface the face of which is coated or covered with an irregularly-surfaced mass of plastic material applied so as to form thereupon an ornamental pattern or design.

6. A wall, ceiling, or other surface the face of which is coated or covered with an irregularly-surfaced mass of plastic material, which is applied so as to form thereupon an ornamental-pattern or design, and which is colored at will.

In testimony whereof Iha-ve hereunto'signed my name this 4th day of April, A. D. 1883. MURRAY GIBSON.

In presence ot J OHN J OLLEY, J r., F. N. DIXON. 

